


Affection

by greywolfheir



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, First Kiss, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 11:12:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16932207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywolfheir/pseuds/greywolfheir
Summary: Adora learns what a kiss is. You know the rest.





	1. Adora

“ _ADORAAAAA!!_ ” Glimmer squealed as she burst into Adora’s room. “You’ll _never_ believe what happened!”

“Whoa there, Glimmer,” Adora laughed. “I’m guessing it’s something pretty good?”

“Yes!” Glimmer said, her eyes sparkling. “Bow _kissed me_.”

Adora blinked. “Uh…huh.”

Glimmer gasped dramatically. “You don’t know what a kiss is, do you?”

Adora reached up to scratch the back of her head. “Uhhh, not really.”

“Oh, how _awful_ ,” Glimmer sighed, settling herself on Adora’s bed. “Well, basically, it’s when you and another person put your lips together.”

“And, uh, why would I do that?” Adora asked, disgusted. Glimmer sighed again.

“Be _cause_ , Adora, it’s a sign of affection—it shows the other person that you like them.”

“Oh, so…should I be kissing you, then?” Adora moved forward, trying to press her lips to Glimmer’s but unsure of how it worked with their noses getting in the way. Luckily, Glimmer put a hand on Adora’s shoulder, stopping her.

“No, no,” Glimmer explained, “I mean, you could kiss me on the cheek, I guess, but kissing on the lips is for when you _like_ like someone. As in, _love_ them—in a couple way.”

“Oh,” Adora said, trying to process all this new information. “I think I get it now. So Bow loves you then?”

“Exactly!” Glimmer nodded. “Now do you see why it’s so _exciting!_ ”

Adora nodded, happy for her friends.

 

That night, however, Adora couldn’t stop thinking about the kissing thing. It was weird, mostly. After all, pressing lips together was just _gross_. But maybe it wasn’t so bad if you were really kissing someone you loved. Adora supposed her parents had probably kissed, and Glimmer’s parents too, since Glimmer said it was a thing couples did.

But was there anyone Adora felt close enough to that she would be willing to kiss? Well, of course. There was Glimmer, who she’d almost kissed anyway, and Bow. But they were kissing each other and Adora didn’t want to invade that. They were The Best Friend Squad, the only people who felt like her true family.

No, that wasn’t right. She’d had a true family once—or at least, she thought she did. Once she found out about all of Shadow Weaver’s lies, that had all gone up in smoke. There was no one in the Horde...

Adora shifted to her other side. That was wrong, too. There _was_ one person from the Horde who still felt like family. One person who Adora felt close enough to kiss. But Adora would never be able to say it out loud. She blushed, though, as she thought it instead. _Catra_.

If there was one person in all of Etheria Adora felt like she could feel comfortable kissing, it was Catra. But Catra was on the side of evil and she had no plans of changing that fact. So there was no use dwelling on it.

Adora went to sleep.

 

The next day, in a meeting with the Rebellion, Adora discovered that Castle Condor was under attack from the Horde. It had been months since there had been any news of Horde movements. They were probably recovering from their defeat at Bright Moon, but now they were back in full force.

“What’s at Castle Condor that the Horde would want?” Adora asked.

“We’re not entirely sure,” Glimmer answered, “but the Sand Valley is on the way to the Kingdom of Snows. Maybe the Horde is trying to conquer the lands to the West since they didn’t have much success here in Bright Moon.”

“Alright,” Adora said with a nod. “The Rebellion should have no problem defending Castle Condor…If that’s alright with you, your Majesty?”

Queen Angella hesitated for only a moment before nodding. “I have no doubt you’ll do well there. You’ll head out tonight.”

Glimmer barely held in her excitement till the end of the meeting, and as soon as it was over and they were out in the hallway, she let out a small squeal of delight.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Castle Condor,” she said. “I mean, it’s in the middle of a desert but _still_ I’ve never been and it’s supposed to be beautiful.”

Adora smiled but she couldn’t stop thinking strategy. She’d nearly lost at the battle of Bright Moon and the Horde hadn’t made any other moves in months. This would be the first time she’d face them again. Could she do it? She still had scars on her back from Catra, who could have killed her. But she _didn’t_ kill her. And that meant something.

Adora shook her head. Did it really mean something? Or was she just projecting again? Hoping that Catra would still join the Rebellion. After everything her former friend had done, why was Adora still willing to forgive her?

 

 They made it to Castle Condor quickly, and who else was leading the charge but Force Captain Catra herself, Scorpia by her side. Adora forced herself to shove all her softer feelings for Catra deep down inside herself. She _wouldn’t_ let Catra win this time.

The battle was hard-fought. The Horde lost many of their number but they didn’t seem to want to back down. Eventually, Adora found herself face-to-face with Catra—as usual.

“Adora,” Catra said mildly.

“Catra,” Adora grunted back, holding out her sword, ready to strike at any moment.

“Long time no see,” Catra said with a smirk.

“You mean after your humiliating defeat?” Adora asked. “I was beginning to think you’d never come out of hiding.”

“You forget, I was the one who nearly killed you—even as She-Ra,” Catra pointed out. “How’s your back, by the way?”

Adora shouted and lunged toward Catra and thus, they began fighting. Catra, as always, nimbly and swiftly avoided attacks. Adora, in She-Ra form of course, handled herself well. They were evenly matched—Catra landing one blow, Adora landing the next—until Adora found an opening and slammed Catra against a wall, holding her in place with her forearm.

“It’s over, Catra,” Adora said, panting heavily. “The Horde loses again. When will you realize you’re on the losing side?”

“Oh great, more of this?” Catra said, still wriggling to get out of Adora’s hold. “Do you realize how much progress I’ve made in the Horde since you left? Shadow Weaver’s gone and I’m Hordak’s second in command.”

Adora gasped. “Really? Catra, how could you follow a man so evil?”

Catra shrugged. “Have you ever considered the fact that I’m evil too?”

Adora gaped at her, unknowingly slipping out of She-Ra form but still keeping a firm grip on Catra. “I could never consider that Catra. I…I love you too much.”

“You _what?_ ” Catra stammered.

Before Adora knew quite what she was doing, she was moving forward until her lips met Catra’s. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do so she just rested them there. But then Catra was shoving Adora back, and Adora—stunned over what she’d done—let herself be shoved away.

“Catra I’m sorry I don’t know—”

“Save it, Adora,” Catra said, and before Adora could say anything else, the girl had gone.


	2. Catra

After the Horde finally retreated, Catra reported back to Hordak. He wasn’t happy, of course, but there was nothing to be done about it. They had lost again, and they could only try again the next day with a different strategy. But Catra wasn’t really listening that day. Her mind was on something—some _one_ else.

 _Adora kissed me,_ Catra thought, over and over again. It had been a really bad kiss, just an awkward press of lips together, but she had _tried_. Why? Kissing was clearly a new concept to Adora, so why test it out on _her_? They were supposed to be enemies, and enemies don’t kiss each other. Worse, enemies do _not_ say they love each other. Clearly, the Rebellion was just teaching Adora some floofy nonsense.

But if that was the case, then _why couldn’t Catra stop thinking about it!_

Catra wanted to scream but then they’d ask what she was screaming about and _that_ would be hard to explain. Instead, she simply went to bed, blocking out any more thoughts of Adora.

 

It was a week later when Catra was patrolling the remains of the Whispering Woods that she came across what seemed like a scuffle. She heard shouting and the tell-tale sounds of fighting. Catra ran to investigate and saw the Horde fighting none other than She-Ra herself. Catra looked around for any sign of the rest of the Rebellion but came up short. Adora fighting a Horde squadron all by herself? What was she thinking?

It didn’t look good for Adora, either. She was far outnumbered.

Just as Catra was thinking this, Adora was hit on the head with flying shrapnel. She fell, unconscious. Just as the Horde soldiers began to advance on her, Catra called out, “Hold it!”

“Force Captain Catra!” One of them said, and they all stood rigid, stopped in their tracks.

“I’ve got this one,” Catra said. “Go back to your patrols.”

They all nodded and scrambled away. Catra waited until the last one was gone before approaching Adora. A million thoughts were running through Catra’s mind. Here was She-Ra, the legendary warrior, lying completely unconscious, and Catra had her all to herself. She could kill her. She could capture her and take her back to Hordak, or…

Or, she could let her go.

Catra tried to shake the last thought out of her mind but she couldn’t. She knew she couldn’t kill Adora. Even in that weird First Ones ruin, Catra knew she hadn’t killed Adora by letting her fall into that pit. It was just for show, to prove to herself she could do it. But deep down, Catra knew she couldn’t.

But to take her back to Hordak? That would be worse, wouldn’t it? He would torture her, dissect her, who knew what? And it would still be all Catra’s fault. No, she couldn’t take Adora back to Hordak. So that left one option.

Catra knelt down next to Adora’s prone form for a long time, as she steeled herself for this decision. She knew what she would say to Hordak, but to actually go through with it?

Catra reached out and ran a finger down Adora’s cheek, stopping once she got to her chin. And then, without fully realizing what she was doing, Catra was leaning down and pressing her lips to Adora’s.

“I love you, too, Adora,” Catra whispered. Then she got up and walked away.

 

Immediately upon arriving back to the Fright Zone, Catra received a summons from Hordak.

“You wanted to see me?” Catra asked upon arrival.

“Yes, I heard you had an encounter with She-Ra in the woods,” Hordak said. “My soldiers said you seemed certain of her capture and yet I see no sign of the warrior.”

“She woke up and esc—” Catra began but Hordak was holding up a hand.

“I’m not finished.” Hordak said, and Catra’s heart began to race. “You see, one of my soldiers seemed to think you needed help so he went back to find you. Do you want to know what he saw?”

“I can—”

“Why don’t I just show you?” Hordak waved a hand and on the screens next to him appeared an image of Catra kneeling over She-Ra. Catra winced as she watched herself lean forward and kiss Adora before running off to another part of the woods.

“I can explain—”

“ _Can_ you?” Hordak asked, his rage barely contained. “While I would _love_ to hear what you have to say, I do believe I already know exactly what you are—a traitor to the Horde.”

Catra knew what was coming and before Hordak had finished speaking, she was jumping away, avoiding an attack by Lonnie from behind.

“Do you know what I do to traitors, Catra?” Hordak called out as Catra avoided attacks left and right from various members of the Horde who had all come to attack her. “I kill them.”

Catra wasn’t listening, though. She was focusing on the one thing she could—survival. Luckily, she was the best fighter the Horde had ever seen. She escaped with ease, running as fast as she could to steal a skiff. Before she knew it, she found herself riding out of the Fright Zone, into the Whispering Woods, and towards Bright Moon.

It was the only place she could think to go.


	3. Adora

Adora awoke in the Whispering Woods, unsure at first how she’d gotten there. Then it all came back to her. She’d been coming back from talking to Madame Rozz when she was ambushed by Horde soldiers. She remembered fighting them but after a while she’d blacked out. But if that were the case, why wasn’t she dead or in the Fright Zone? Had it all been a dream? But that didn’t explain why she was in the Whispering Woods, and a cursory glance around her revealed shrapnel—proof that there had been a fight.

Adora got up, transforming out of her She-Ra form. She groaned as she felt the pain of all her wounds coming back to her, but nothing seemed serious. She simply picked up her sword and headed back to Bright Moon.

Back at the castle, Adora was in Glimmer’s room explaining her ordeal to the princess. She’d just gotten to the part where she’d been knocked unconscious when she happened to glance out the window—and gasped.

There, coming from the woods on a skiff, was Catra.

“Catra!” Adora exclaimed unsure of what else to say. But Glimmer turned around and saw her too. Adora transformed into She-Ra, then Glimmer teleported them both down in front of Catra.

Before Adora or Glimmer could move, Catra threw her hands up and exclaimed, “I’m not here to hurt anyone!”

Adora laughed. “I’m supposed to believe that? Wait--Glimmer, search the grounds. There’s no way Catra came here alone.”

Glimmer nodded and disappeared.

“I _did_ come here alone,” Catra insisted. “Listen, it’s a long story but—”

“Stop it,” Adora commanded. “I’m not going to listen to any of your lies.”

Catra snorted but Adora was already advancing, ready to attack. Catra avoided every single blow, but to Adora’s surprise, she didn’t attempt to land one herself. Eventually, Adora stopped.

“Why aren’t you attacking me?”

“I told you, it’s a long story. Now can you please let me explain?”

Glimmer appeared then, shaking her head at Adora. “I don’t see any sign of the Horde.”

Adora frowned but she recovered quickly. “Glimmer, help me restrain Catra and take us to your mother.” To Catra, she said, “You can explain yourself to the Queen herself.”

 

Adora listened with a scowl the whole time as Catra explained walking in the Whispering Woods, coming across the battle, and seeing Adora being knocked out by shrapnel. The scowl lessened as she explained how she’d left Adora there, and then how Hordak found out and labelled her a traitor. The scowl went away as Catra explained with downcast eyes how she didn’t know where else to go so she decided to come to Bright Moon.

“But why _wouldn’t_ you capture Adora?” Glimmer demanded. “You’ve been after her for all this time and suddenly you just let her go?”

Catra bit her lip. “It’s hard to explain.”

“No it’s not,” Adora laughed. “It’s like I’ve been telling you all this time—you _like_ me and you didn’t want to hurt me.”

Catra rolled her eyes. “If that’s what you want to believe, then sure.”

“And how do we know we can trust anything you’ve said?” Angella asked.

“I trust her,” Adora said assuredly. “I’ve known her all my life and I’d know if she was lying.”

Queen Angella nodded. “Very well then. We shall let you stay here, under the condition that if you even _think_ of betraying our trust, you will immediately be banished.”

“Yes ma’am,” Catra said with a nod.

“Then it’s settled,” Queen Angella said. “Glimmer, show Miss Catra to her new room.”

Glimmer nodded and she, Catra and Adora all walked away. Adora, for her part, couldn’t stop a smile spreading across her lips. Catra was finally on their side, and Adora couldn’t be happier.

 

A week later, the Rebellion got word that the Horde was marching toward the Meadowlands, and they had another meeting to discuss strategy, but it was simple. She-Ra would attack. They didn’t even need that many other Princesses, as the troops were small in number.

“I think Catra should join us,” Adora piped up. Everyone turned to look at her with bafflement.

“Why would we ever allow such a thing?” Queen Angella asked.

Adora shrugged. “She has more up-to-date information on the Horde, and it’s a chance for her to prove her loyalty.”

“I don’t think—” Queen Angella began but Glimmer interrupted.

“I think Adora’s right, Mom. We’ll never truly know if Catra’s on our side until she proves herself in battle.”

Angella hesitated but eventually sighed. “Alright, I’ll allow it.”

Adora smiled for what felt like the thousandth time in weeks.

 

The battle seemed to be a simple one—similar to earlier battles Adora had fought as She-Ra. In fact, if she was being cocky, Adora might have even called it easy. The hardest part was that Adora kept getting distracted by Catra. Partially to keep an eye on her and partially to admire the fact that her friend was now fighting _with_ her instead of _against_ her, Adora kept sneaking glances over to Catra.

At one point, though, Adora looked over at Catra and Catra looked back, but her eyes immediately got wide and she shouted, “ _ADORA!_ ”

Before Adora could even begin to process what was going on, Catra had lunged toward her and shoved her to the side. Adora was about to get angry when it all suddenly made sense. A Horde tank had attempted to shoot Adora from behind. Catra noticed and shoved Adora out of the way but didn’t have time to get out of the blast herself. Adora wasn’t sure where Catra got hit but the force alone caused Catra to be thrown ten feet away, where she rolled on the ground until she was stopped by a boulder.

“ _Catra!_ ” Adora shouted, running towards her friend. “Catra, please be alive, please be alive, _please be alive!_ ”


	4. Catra

Catra didn’t know where she was at first. It definitely wasn’t the Fright Zone with all its bright colors and shiny objects. But after a cursory glance around, panic rising in her throat, Catra’s eyes landed on Adora, and it all came rushing back.

Adora was sleeping curled up at the foot of Catra’s bed, her back to Catra. When Catra tried to sit up, she hissed loudly at the sharp pain in her shoulder and fell back on the bed. This seemed to wake Adora who groaned and stirred. She sat up, and, after seeing Catra awake, suddenly shot up.

“Catra! I’m so glad you’re awake!” Adora exclaimed. She moved to hug Catra but thought better of it after looking at the bandage on Catra’s shoulder.

“How long have I been out?”

“Only a day,” Adora answered soberly. “I’m surprised you weren’t out longer. That wound was pretty bad.”

Catra shrugged her good shoulder. “I’ve had worse.”

Adora shook her head, knowing it was a lie. “You do realize how stupid that was, right? You taking the hit for me? She-Ra could have handled it better than you did.”

Catra rolled her eyes. “Well, if you’d been paying attention, I wouldn’t have had to do it.”

Suddenly Adora got serious. She put a hand on Catra’s cheek. “Thank you, Catra. For everything.”

Catra tried to pull away out of embarrassment, but Adora didn’t drop her hand.

“I thought I’d lost you out there, you know?” Adora said soberly. “And there was one thing I wanted you to know.”

“Adora—” Catra began, having an idea of where this was going.

“ _Catra,”_ Adora whispered, “I love you.”

Catra stared into Adora’s eyes for a long moment. Then she reached forward with her good arm, grabbed Adora by her shirt front and pulled her into a kiss. Their lips crashed together awkwardly and Adora still had no idea what she was supposed to do. But eventually she started mimicking Catra’s movements and it got better.

Catra moved to deepen the kiss but that just jostled her bad shoulder and she sucked in a breath, breaking their contact.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t—” Adora began.

“No, it was me,” Catra grumbled. “Don’t worry about it.”

After a beat, Adora said softly, “I really liked that.”

Catra smiled. “Me too.”

“Maybe, once you’re healed we could…do it again sometime?” Adora asked, her face turning a deep shade of red that Catra decided she liked.

“Yeah. And Adora?”

“Yes, Catra?”

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of wrote this all in a few hours so I'm sorry if it's a bit sloppy but I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!


End file.
